DOCTRINE AND FAITH
(Exodus 17, 3-7; Romans 5, 1-2.5-8; John 4, 5-42: 3rd Sunday of Lent: Year A, 2017)
In observing the activities of the Lenten period which takes us to Easter, the Church leads us, step by step to understand Jesus whom we have embraced in faith and also ourselves, who by virtue of our baptism resemble him and have the onus to live our Christian life in a coherent manner. The liturgy of today, through the first reading takes us back to an event that happened among the Israelites, as they made their way in the desert to the Promised Land. They were suffering from thirst thereby; felt that they have been abandoned by God. They murmured against God and Moses and rebuked Moses in these words: Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die of thirst, we, our children and our animals? They even doubted the guiding presence of God as they also complained: Is God still in our midst, yes or no? God was still in their midst as guide and saviour for through Moses he satisfied their thirst by making water gush out from a rock.
As Christians and members of the Church we are the new people of God. We are, as it were, making our journey through the desert of life to the promised land, which is eternal life. Often, on this journey, we encounter a lot of doubts and temptations to rebel against God whose guiding presence among us we sometimes put in doubt especially when we encounter difficulties in our lives. Paul, in today’s second reading assures us of God’s perduring presence in our midst by letting us share in his righteousness through Jesus Christ: We have been justified through faith, in peace with God through the action of Jesus Christ. The word righteousness (dikaioo) is relational. It is based on the righteousness that originates from God, a righteousness that gives and sustains life, security and well being. Human beings are said to be righteous when they respect and enhance the life, security and well being that is given and sustained by God. Strictly speaking they can only do so if they are in right relationship with God and through this relationship, share in God’s righteousness. According to Paul, we have no right to this relationship with God. It has been given to us, won for us by the Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, we did not even deserve it. We were sinners, alienated from God until Christ died for us and gained access for us to the grace that places us in the right relationship with God. Paul tries to explain the astonishing character of this gesture when he says that it is hard enough to die for a good person; to die for someone who is not good is almost unthinkable. Yet that is exactly what Christ did. He died for us while we were yet sinners: he died for us before we had been justified, and his dying gave us access to God. Through his sacrifice, Jesus opened the way for us to approach God. We do this by faith and by so doing we no longer stand in enmity, but rather in grace and peace, with God.
In the gospel reading and through the episode of the Samaritan woman, Jesus reveals himself and his identity and sheds light on our call as Christians. Jesus is the gift of God par excellence. He is the source of the Holy Spirit whom the Christian receives as living water that leads to eternal life. Jesus also indicates that he would render people capable of worshiping God in a true and authentic way, in a manner animated by the Spirit and which will be pleasing to God. He also reveals himself as the Messiah who was to come. From Jesus’ discussion with the Samaritan woman emerge the following about us. We are people who have received the gift of the Spirit, as well as the living water through which we are reborn to the life of grace and through which we receive the supernatural virtues of faith, hope and charity. We are also the people who have been entrusted with the gift of the word of God, divine revelation, the living water which alone can quench the human search for the truth. We are also those who have been made capable of worshiping God in spirit and truth. Indeed this episode of the Samaritan woman is like an invitation to all men and women to open up to the gift of God and welcome his words that quench the thirst of the mind and give meaning to life. For us who are baptized, it is surely an invitation to take our baptism serious as an esteemed gratuitous gift. Again, we are to note the responsibility that follows therefrom: to grow personally in faith and secondly to propagate the faith around us. One grows in faith through listening to, reflection on, and welcoming, the word of God. Dialogue with God in prayer brings the Christian closer and closer to God every day, thereby strengthening the relationship between God and the Christian. To undertake the onus of spreading the faith we follow the example of the Samaritan woman who after listening to the revelation of Jesus, left her pot at the well, ran hurriedly to inform the people of her city so that the whole city might participate in the gift she received. Indeed she became an apostle and a missionary. We ourselves, by virtue of our baptism and confirmation, are called to spread the faith, communicate and share the gifts we have received with our wives and husbands, parents and children, brothers and sisters, friends and colleagues. A Christian that is not a convinced apostle of his faith is not a good one. Therefore, in today’s Eucharistic celebration, may we thank God for our faith, allowing us to share in his righteousness and giving us the privilege and responsibility of being apostles and missionaries of our Lord Jesus Christ. Happy Sunday! +John I. Okoye
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